this is the pursuit of perfection. >>> we're talking about wednesday night's debate between mitt romney and president barack obama and the performance of both men respectively. i think my take on the president's performance was it was a combination of strategic choices that they make time and time again to above all else, the hippocratic oath of the barack obama campaign from the first day is first do no harm to the president's likability. >> exactly. >> do no harm. everything is subordinate to that. so any attack he might launch, anything aggressive has to be calculated in relation to the possible down side risk of imperilling the president's personal brand as the adult in the room, as the agreeable one, as the rational one, as the never angry person which has a whole intense racial subtext. the positive/negative feelings towards president obama and mitt romney going into the debate, those are the gains they have consolidated. president 52% likability, 42% negative. and mitt romney was underwater in that respect. so that is a key number for them. that is their watch number. i think tha